So on Tuesday, July 24th, I spent the day hanging out with kiddos in West Des Moines. After work I loaded up my car (with the help of some lovely DSM ladies). And then the next morning I woke up and drove to Lawrence, Kansas. And in a day the trajectory of my life changed. A change that I had long been waiting for in hope and anticipation. Since arriving in Kansas, I have been met with lots of little 'challenges', many ups and downs, and just overwhelming reminders of the grace, provision, and love that God offers to us.
Just to name a few.......
The airconditioning in my apartment did not work for the first few days, which led to me being constantly hot and sweaty during our 198 degree heat wave. Also during this time our garbage disposal wasn't working. But thankfully, my parents were able to come down a few days after I arrived, to make sure that I was getting settled in. While my dad was sick from throwing up his lunch, my mom and I decided to take a break and hit up Target for some retail therapy to get some apartment accessories...like a trash can. When my mom took a break and went to the bathroom, I somehow ran over one of my baby toes. I tried not to cry, but it hurt so bad that I just gave up, sat down in the aisle and pouted like a baby, as blood filled up my flip flop. I was mad. At Kansas, at Target, at moving, at Jesus, at the world. What was I doing? I just wanted to go back to DSM, and back to my life as a student at Drake.
And then I remembered it's never as bad as it seems, Jesus will take care of me, he's in the midst of whatever I am going through. I pulled myself up off the floor of Target and called my mom to ask her to bring me some paper towels to clean up the blood.
Thankfully getting my drivers' license, registration, license plate, insurance wasn't too terrible, just involved me complaining a lot about not having any idea of how to do those types of things. Oh and now that my picture is horrible, and my drivers' license shows my weight, I will not be doing anything that involves me showing an ID. And now that my car only has a back Kansan license plate, it still looks naked to me. And speaking of cars... one of my headlight bulbs burnt out. But no worries took care of it by using one of my philosophies of life, "you don't really need to know HOW to do stuff, you just need to know PEOPLE who know how to do stuff."
This list seems to be rambling on, so for those of you who want to full story, I guess you will get it :) I had to set up Internet in our apartment, which took weeks and was finally accomplished after I broke down and cried while on the phone with a customer service representative. Also kind of a low point.
I also had a little bit of computer charger issues which resulted in this burn on my arm in the picture below.... but hopefully that will be resolved soon.
But God is really up to some great stuff here at KU. Things are off to a great start and I am so excited to see what's next. This morning I was reading about Moses leading the Israelites through the desert after their escape from Egypt. It is always so easy for me to scoff at the Israelites, why do they doubt that God will be providing for them and taking care of them? God says that he will give them just enough manna for each day and that they can eat all they have for that day and the next day there will be more. But in doubt and fear they save some back for the next day, and then the next morning what they saved back is rotten but there is plenty of new and fresh manna for them. Then later on in Exodus 17 the people are certain that they will die of thirst instead of remembering how God had provided for them in the past and trusting that He can and will take care of them again. Throughout Exodus there is a pattern of God promising to take care of his people, and then they disobey him and try to take care of things themselves. They know that God has taken care of them in the past, but it is still so hard for them to believe that He will take care of them again.... sounds familiar huh?
God has been providing and taking care of me in crazy ways during this season. One thing that I am really excited about is the full sized "big girl" bed I was recently given. God has also surrounded me with people who care so deeply about me. God has been providing connections for me with new students. God has provided me with a wonderful roommate. God loves us so much, He is a loving father who loves to give good gifts to his children.
So even in the midst of physical hills and metaphorical hills, I must remember, that God is here, He will provide for me, that He loves me and that He gives me grace even in the midst of my mistakes. I just need to allow Him to pick me up, dust me off, give me rest, and help me get back on the bike.
And here I am, back on my bike, ready for whatever comes next!
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